Soldier's Redemption
by Soldier's Shadow
Summary: POST MGS4: Raiden's recovering in a hospital when he's visited by Old Snake, who encourages him to go on and live life as a man. Something he was never able to do.


**AN: Okay here's my first post writer's block fic for the Metal Gear section, so I welcome you to **Soldier's Redemption**. The inspiration came from replaying MGS4 again, the Act 4 briefing cutscene to be exact. It was one of my favorite ones in the game and you can see inspiration from it here!**

**Go on and enjoy!

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Raiden lay idly on his hospital bed within the recovery wing of the hospital, silently reflecting on what had happened the prior day.

Rosemary had come by to visit him and to apologize for her past mistake and for lying to him about being married to Roy Campbell. More importantly though she had brought a little boy named John, whom she claimed was his son.

His son.

Was this for real? Was he really a father now? Raiden's mind had been racing with thoughts through out the night over whether what she had told him was true and not another lie. This was natural for him to believe considering he had been lied to so many times throughout his life. Could this just be another one?

He was lied to by his own father, his superiors and even to by the woman he loved most. All the lies he had suffered from throughout his life had molded him into a stronger person, so then he could live with the painful consequences that followed the lies. At the same time though, it had killed whatever humanity that was left in him and had morphed him into a cold and callous person, a shadow of his former self.

The soldier turned on his side with a great effort. He was still in pain from the reattachment surgeries that he had to undergo in order to regain the two arms he lost while saving Snake's life from Liquid Ocelot and Outer Haven and from the surgical removal of his exoskeleton. Raiden saw his reflection in the mirror placed on the nightstand by his bed. The first word that came to his mind was 'beast'.

Outside of bastard, beast was the only word Raiden could use to describe himself. After-all he was 'Jack the Ripper' and he lived up to that name perfectly because all he was good at was taking lives and bringing innocents to tears.

His thoughts were brought to an end when a knock sane to his door. "Mr. Jack!" a voice called to him. The door opened and in stepped a petite women with brown hair. "You've got a visitor, shall I send him in?" Raiden didn't turn to her; he just nodded and watched her leave through the mirror.

"Jack."

The soldier immediately recognized the voice. He rolled over on to his side to see Old Snake enter the room. The man was like him, a shadow of his former self. The man looked tired and he looked as if he had gotten a little older since the end of Liquid's insurrection. The old man still held Raiden's respect as a result of their cooperation during the Big Shell incident and during Liquid's war. Snake had encouraged him to make what was best of his youth and to live a normal, a life Raiden wasn't sure if he'd be able to live again.

"I came to see how you were doing," Snake said simply as he walked to the other side of the room. He looked to Raiden, his countenance not showing any kind of emotion. "You seem to be recovering pretty well. Haven't seen many people survive all the crap you've lived through," the old man remarked wryly.

"Hmph, maybe it would've been better if I didn't live through any of it," Raiden stated gruffly as he shifted in his bed, wincing slightly due to the pain of the surgeries. This reply onlygained a sigh from Snake.

"You still don't get it, do you?" the old man questioned, his tone calm. "You've still got a chance to make up for your mistakes, you have your youth. In a few months I'll be where you are, rotting in my deathbed while you go on and live a new life".

"You're not going to die," Raiden retorted, his eyes narrowing at the older soldier. "You're a legendary hero, legends never die".

"I'm no hero; never was, never will be," Snake stated, turning his back to the fellow soldier. You're a real man, not a clone born only to destroy. I don't have any second chances in life like you do," the old man sighed before continuing. "You've got a family that needs you".

Raiden's blue eyes turned fierce at that comment. "A family that's better off without me. They don't need me as an extra burden!" the soldier growled vehemently at the old man. He rarely if ever lost his temper around old Snake but he wasn't able to think clearly. All the pain from Rose's earlier lie and of the many other lies was clouding his thoughts.

"You're wasting your time if you came here to convince me to live a lie".

This was followed by a very tense silence with neither Raiden nor Snake exchanging any words. Snake slowly turned to Raiden with a hardened expression on his wrinkled face, his eyes locked onto his friend in an emotionless stare.

"…I didn't come here to convince you to live a lie, Jack," the old man began, his eyes still locked on Raiden. "I came here to ask you to make me a promise".

"A promise?" Raiden repeated a bit confused.

"I saw him…" Snake said completely out of the blue as he looked out the room's window. "Big Boss, my father. He told me to live what was left of my life as a man, not a soldier. To tell you the truth, the most I can do is try. I'll never be able to live as a man. That's why I came here; to ask if you could live the life I could never live for me".

"I'm sorry to tell you this Snake but I-."

"No, don't you tell me that you'll just be living a lie!" Snake interjected, his tone rising slightly, catching Raiden off-guard. "I've been lied to many times in my life too so I know how it feels. But you're being an idiot because you're lying to yourself by saying your family is a lie. That's the one thing that you have that separates the two of us. It makes you a man rather than a beast that'll vanish once it's time is up," the older man explained before breathing deeply. "You still have a chance to undo your mistake, that's why I'm asking you to promise to do this for me".

Raiden was left speechless as a result of this speech. The soldier pondered over what action he should take. Was he really the man Snake claimed he is? Could he possibly live a normal life with his wife and son while making up for his past failures? After a long period of thought, Raiden made his decision.

"Snake…" he said the old man's name in a raspy tone. He swallowed hard before continuing. "I'll do it. I'll live your new life for you and I'll undo all of the failures; mine and yours".

Old Snake closed his eyes and his lips curved into a small smile. "Thank you…Jack." He knew he could count on Raiden; he has faith in him that he would be able to correct the failures of the past and present. "You're strong. Your family is lucky to have you".

"Snake I won't fail you," Raiden stated to the older soldier, to which he nodded. Snake turned away from Raiden and began to walk towards the exit. "What about you? What'll happen to you?

"I told you already; the most I can do is try to live the rest of my days as a man so that's exactly what I'm going to do," Snake responded, not turning his back to Raiden. "My name's not Snake. That name belongs to a soldier whose hands are covered in blood".

"Then what shall I call you?"

"My name's Dave, Jack. Call me Dave." With that, Solid Snake died and out walked Dave, a new man.

Once Dave was gone, Raiden was left alone with his thoughts. The soldier could feel a new sense of hope form within. For the first time in a long time he felt hopeful. Hopeful that there was a chance he would no longer be tortured by lies and hopeful that he may have a chance to make up for everything. For the first time, his eyes opened up to see a bright future, one that he would share with Rose and his son.

For the first time…Raiden felt like a man.

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**AN: This was a little short but I felt as if this was really deep in a way. Snake felt so wise and knowledgeable in this compared to how I usually right him as grizzled and distant. How did he seem to you guys? How about Raiden? Writing for him was like writing for my standard Snake, which is always good. I'll be back soon with another MGS fic and thanks to this writing high that I'm experiencing now I'll get faster than usual!**

**Don't forget to review! **


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